Are the Courts Becoming More Lenient? Recent Trends in Convictions and Penalties in NSW Higher and Local Courts

• NCJ Number: 177581
• Author(s): J Baker
• Date Published: 1998
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

This paper examines conviction rates in the New South Wales (NSW) Higher and Local Courts for a range of major offenses.

Abstract

The major offenses described include assault, sexual assault, child sexual assault, manslaughter, murder, break and enter, robbery, and deal and traffic in opiates. For each offense in each court the following were considered: the proportion of charges to which the accused pleaded guilty, the proportion of charges to which the accused did not plead guilty but was found guilty by the court, and the proportion of charges to which the accused did not plead guilty and was found not guilty by the court. The report also discusses trends in penalties imposed by the courts; trends in the percentage of convicted offenders imprisoned; trends in the length of prison sentences; and the effect of offense severity and prior convictions on penalties, on the percentage imprisoned, and on the average prison sentence. Figures, tables, appendix, notes